2 Days Left

Dubrovnik

Our last tour before heading home was Dubrovnik. It had been quite a cold and windy night, and for this port of call we were supposed to be ferried ashore. Due to the stormy conditions the location had to be changed and we waited for nearly three hours for this to be organized. The ship ended up docking at the pier where we were able to walk ashore (the question was asked why the ship doesn't just dock there all the time). As we were so late our guided tour was cut extremely short, then we had about half an hour to look around the city. If you have seen photos of Dubrovnik, it is a very beautiful city surrounded by a wall two and a half kilometers in circumference. We were both keen to do the walk of the city wall as the weather had changed and was now quite warm but we were also aware of the tightness of time to complete. Well, I am dragging my feet, attempting to take as many photos as I could. We did have one miscalculation, when we got to the top of the wall we expected it to be flat and smooth sailing (I'm right into this nautical talk now). It was up and down all the way, we were behind time and Josephine kept looking at me with a stare that said hurry up you old far.. I kept running, stopping occasionally for that one unforgettable photo shot. My knees were sore, my heart was pounding and yet I still got that stare and "tsk .. comm'n Ray". Well, after running nearly all the way not to miss the bus, when we got to the bus stop we were not alone, there was over a thousand people waiting for the buses to take us back to the ship. After waiting for about 35 minutes pondering why I had to run so much, we jumped out of the queue and caught a taxi back to the ship to have a well deserved drink.
Dinner, then back to the cabin to pack as our bags, which had to put outside our front door by 1 am.
The bloody trip back.
When we hopped on the plane we were greeted by a hostess who gave us both an attractive toiletry bag. I had trouble undoing the zip, finally when it flew open the unprotected shaving blade sliced off a part of my finger. There was blood everywhere, 5 hand towels and three band aids later we contained the bleeding. About two hours later (finger still throbbing) I blew my nose and my handkerchief was full of blood, now a bloody nose. Who said flying is one of the safest forms of transport. (Lucky he is so tough!).
Melbourne Terra Firma - you beauty mate.
Thanks to my wonderful wife we had a brilliant holiday. What a patient woman she is. Even more important, I defy any woman to carry more luggage (including mine) around Europe than she did. Jo outlasted 2 suitcases that were both wrecked in the last week of our trip by being accidentally (??) dropped by a taxi driver and the ship's porter. They could have done with a luggage handling course from my little packhorse. Didn't happen on her shift. There were not too many arguments …. Only the usual navigational blasts and having to tell her to walk a bit faster with my luggage.
Many thanks to our family and friends who followed us by the means of globenotes. We loved your comments, even the one from that feminist Germaine Greer. I hope you got a giggle (mainly at my expense) and a glimpse of the fabulous adventure we experienced.